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Columbus Blue Jackets Today

Arniel hired as assistant coach with Rangers

Former Blue Jackets coach
Scott Arniel has been hired as an assistant coach by the New York Rangers, the
team announced. Arniel, who was named associate coach, will lead new coach
Alain Vigneault’s support staff. Arniel was the Jackets’ coach for 123 games in
2010-11 and 2011-12.

• Josh Harris , the principal owner of the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, will buy the
New Jersey Devils and assume the team’s lease at the Prudential Center in Newark, according to two
people with knowledge of the matter.

The deal, according to an NHL document sent to team owners, is said to be worth more than $320
million. It is expected to be announced today.

Commissioner
Gary Bettman is said to support the sale, which means it is unlikely to be
significantly opposed by other team owners.

Auto racing

Wheeler blames NASCAR for becoming ‘too fancy’

Humpy Wheeler, the former longtime president at Charlotte Motor Speedway, said
NASCAR hurt itself by becoming “too fancy” in the 1990s.

Wheeler, in a video posted on YouTube this week, said the sport soared in the 1990s and a lot of
people wanted to change it.

“They didn’t like it the way it was. They thought it was too country or unsophisticated or
whatever. Those people were dead wrong,” he said in the 18-minute video.

Wheeler said cars have become too expensive, preventing grass-roots drivers from rising in the
sport.“We’re not getting all the best drivers because they don’t talk right, they don’t look right,
they may not be corporately inclined,” he said. “Corporations, to a certain extent, have put us
into this.”

NBA

Timberwolves sign Pekovic to five-year contract

The Minnesota Timberwolves agreed to terms on a five-year deal with restricted free-agent center
Nikola Pekovic.

Pekovic posted career highs with 16.3 points and 8.8 rebounds in 62 games last season for the
Timberwolves.

• The Washington Wizards signed veteran forward
Al Harrington.

Tennis

Retractable roof planned for U.S. Open’s Ashe Stadium

The U.S. Tennis Association announced that a retractable roof would be built on Arthur Ashe
Stadium, the main venue for the U.S. Open, in New York.

The USTA will provide details of the roof plan at a news conference today. Its news release did
not explain when the roof would be built or how much it would cost.

Elsewhere

Troy Smith signs two-year deal with Montreal of CFL

Former Ohio State quarterback
Troy Smith signed a two-year deal with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian
Football League.

Smith won the Heisman Trophy in 2006.

“We’ve been in discussions for well over three months and have been patiently waiting for Troy
to finish his commitments at Ohio State,” Alouettes general manager
Jim Popp said.

Smith, 29, was drafted in the fifth round of the 2007 NFL draft by the Baltimore Ravens.

•
Robert Heffernan pulled away in the last 10 kilometers to win the gold medal in
the 50-kilometer walk in Moscow, giving Ireland its first men’s world track championship title in
30 years.

Heffernan’s gold came 30 years to the day after
Eamonn Coughlan won the 5,000 meters in 1983.

• Stanford’s
Patrick Rodgers withstood a playoff to advance to match play and then beat
Sean Dale 3 and 2 of Jacksonville, Fla., in the first round of the U.S. Amateur
golf tournament at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass.